Supermarkets 'losing battle with market stalls'

Supermarkets may be driving corner shops out of business but they are struggling to compete with greengrocers' market stalls, a new report says.

Street markets offer a greater range of fruit and vegetables than supermarkets and charge up to 50 per cent less, according to the New Economics Foundation (nef).

They also generate more jobs per square metre of retail space than the large food chains, says its report.

The think tank's findings are based on a study of the Queens Market in east London.

It found that 80 per cent of customers at the site shopped there because of the choice of goods on offer.

Researchers found that items in a shopping basket of goods bought from the street market were on average 53 per cent cheaper than at a local Asda store.

Customers spend an average £34 each time they visited Queens Market of which £25 is spent on food, the report says.

This generates around £11.5 million for the local economy each year, in addition to an estimated £1.8 million which customers spend in nearby shops.

The nef says Queens Market is under threat from a proposed supermarket development.

It describes the East London site as a: ".. microcosm of the dangers of basing regeneration policy on supermarket expansion, from the real employment impact of supermarkets to the threat to consumer choice."

It follows an earlier nef report called Trading Places, released in November, which found a basket of fruit and vegetables bought at Lewisham street market was 34 per cent cheaper than at the local supermarket.

A similar survey carried out at Walthamstow showed fresh produce was 29 per cent cheaper than at the local supermarket.

Farmers' markets in the capital were also cheaper than the large food chains, according to the nef.

Sites at Marylebone and Ealing both offered baskets of fresh fruit and vegetables costing 11 per cent less than equivalent items in the nearest supermarkets.

New Economics Foundation researcher Guy Rubin said street markets provided "vital revenue" for local economies around the UK, ranging from £0.5 to £13 million a year.

He said: "The irony is that because the value of markets has not been quantified until now, planning decisions are being taken around the country which are undermining the small enterprises that can prevent us becoming a nation of clone towns."

The nef Queens Market report was commissioned by the Friends of Queens Market which campaigns on behalf of the site.

The nef Trading Places report was commissioned by the London Development Agency.